7 Deadly Sins for New Hires

Congratulations, you landed the job! The hard part is over, right? Not exactly. Your first few weeks in a new company are crucial — they can determine whether your future is paradise or purgatory. And we’re not talking only about mastering the technical aspects of your new job. How you behave in your new work environment is just as important — if not more so.

So when you start a job at a new company, avoid these seven deadly (or at least career-killing) sins:

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1. Ignoring the Culture

“Our company asked 250 advertising and marketing executives what the greatest challenge was for those starting a new job, and four out of 10 said it was acclimating to the corporate culture,” says Donna Farrugia, executive director of CreativeGroup.com. How much should you socialize? Do coworkers prefer phone calls, emails or face-to-face conversations? Dress shoes or sneakers? Many aspects of a company’s culture can be subtle and easy to overlook. Instead, observe everything. “Come in 30 minutes early and stay a little late just to observe how people behave — when they get their coffee, where they take their lunches, how they wrap up at the end of the day,” Farrugia says.

2. Arrogance

“Companies can set up new hires for this by treating them, when they’re hired, like they’re saviors,” says Sue Edwards, leadership team coach and president of Development by Design. “As a result, they sometimes come in and insist on doing everything their way, because they’re supposedly so brilliant.” Instead, listen and learn. Take time to understand the company and how things work before you decide to be a maverick.

3. Hiding Out

The flip side of arrogance is timidity, which hunkering down with your own work can look like. Instead, build relationships from day one. “Take the time to network with your colleagues by having informal conversations to learn what others do and how it affects you,” Edwards says. “It’s also a good way to learn the culture.”